- Yes, what you see in the picture is true... 1 year, 11 months, and 6 days after I purchased it, under it's own power, the Camaro went down, and more importantly, back up the driveway!!!!!! I can't even begin to tell you how big the smile on my face is today! Now realize that I still have a long way to go before this project is 'done'. But it certainly is making bigger steps at the moment!
- Here are some more fun pictures I took while it was down the hill:
- So, what all have I accomplished in the past week or so to make this happen? Well...
- Replaced the Master Power 8" dual diaphragm brake booster with a 9" single diaphragm unit to attempt to get a stiffer pedal. Didn't work, but I like the shorter design better.
- Reversed the FAST injector wiring harness so the connector is 'hidden'. Actually, ended up rerouting all of the EFI wiring to hide as much as possible. Here are some pictures to prove it! :)
- Adjusted the valve lash for the solid roller lifter cam. Twice.... The first time, evindentally, I must have gone too far. When I restarted the car, it wouldn't idle at all... The vacuum was way down, and the idle was hunting. I tried all sorts of things, but finally gave in and loosened the lash back up. Restarted the car, and she ran great! Oh well, amazing that .004" could affect things that badly!
- Added cotter-pins to the castle nuts on the steering joints, which I almost forgot. Wouldn't THAT be great! UGH...
- Finished buffing the hood... Looks pretty good! :)
- I suppose that's about it. I very carefully backed the car out of the garage (I have a STEEP
driveway!) and was testing the brakes about every foot! :) About halfway down, I realized that
the steering wheel didn't want to turn to the right! Uh oh! A quick peek under the hood showed
a u-joint set screw touching the header, so back up the driveway I went. Not uneventfully
though...
If you click on the picture and look closely, you'll see the evidence of the first "traction test" in the car! :) I was NOT going to stall it, that's for sure... Hee hee!
Once I finally made it down, I pointed the car up the street, drove about 200 feet and then back to park it where I took the pics. With the open exhaust, the car is unbelievably loud! And the front alignment is WAY off, so I'm not going to push my luck at all...
- Thursday of this week the car has an appointment to have the exhaust system made. Then hopefully on Friday I will get the alignment done. At that point, I'll try to put the hood on, and start taking a few little drives around the neighborhood! I need to find out why my brake pedal is so soft, why the clutch doesn't want to disengage all the way, and then get the interior finished up. But that will happen in due time... I will be on the road soon!!!
- PS: I'm still grinning... :)
